Ethics Probe Clears Cotton, Democrats Try Again

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Ethics has cleared U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, of charges the Arkansas Democratic Party raised that he violated rules regarding campaign fundraising.

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Ethics has cleared U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, of charges the Arkansas Democratic Party raised that he violated rules regarding campaign fundraising.

The six-member bipartisan committee voted unanimously to dismiss the charges after an independent ethics panel found "no substantial reason to believe" that Cotton was inside a House office, room or building when he solicited campaign funds.

Democrats filed a complaint in October with the Office of Congressional Ethics asserting that Cotton may have violated House ethics rules during a radio interview on Sept. 30.

Cotton is seeking election to the U.S. Senate this fall in a campaign challenging incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

The Office of Congressional Ethics sent a letter to Cotton on Feb. 28 saying it was recommending dismissal of the complaint. The Committee on Ethics sent a letter to Cotton on March 13 announcing that it had unanimously voted to dismiss the case as recommended.

Cotton’s campaign released the letters Wednesday after former Chief Justice Jack Holt Jr., a Democrat, filed another complaint against Cotton with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Holt asked the panel to investigate whether Cotton may have violated House rules by failing to disclose the identity of clients he served while working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Cotton did not identify McKinsey clients because of confidentiality agreements he signed while working there — an exception allowed under House rules, according to his campaign.

"Just like the Democratic Party’s previous complaints, this one is frivolous, false and wholly without merit," said David Ray, a campaign spokesman. "Tom has not only followed all ethics rules regarding financial disclosure, he has gone above and beyond the listed requirements by providing more information than he had to."

The Democratic Party of Arkansas issued a news release Wednesday in support of Holt’s complaint.

"This is a serious matter of transparency and public accountability," said DPA Attorney Benton Smith, who had filed the previous ethics complaint.